Our Own Trail of Tears
by TheSacredIdiot
Summary: "You're my Cherokee Rose. You make me feel like I belong, like I deserve to be here. And you make me feel strong. Whenever I feel like I might be losin' it, like Merle mighta been right, you're there to prove me wrong. And like those people who traveled The Trail of Tears, I need you."
1. Chapter 1

"Do you think this place is safe? From the Geeks?"

"Geeks?" I asked, rubbing the sweat off of my forehead.

"Yeah." Glenn said, sitting on the hood of his van. "Geeks. You know, nobody wants to be around them?"

"You call me a geek all the time." I noted, shoving the stake farther in with my foot. If we had some hammers, this would have been done a lot faster. But nope, I had to pack a gun, a knife, and a bow.

"I know. Why do you think you've never had a boyfriend despite your obvious attractiveness?"

"Because I'm too independent?"

"You wish."

I chuckled, and finished shoving the last stake in. Finished. I glanced around to see if anybody else needed help, but everyone seemed settled in. I grabbed Glenn's bags and threw them into the tent.

"What about you?" He asked, noticing all of my bags were still in the van.

"I'm sleeping in the van." I told him, hopping into the back. If you took the back seats out, there was actually a lot of room in there.

"Why?"

"Because, Glenn, unlike you, some people need to be alone sometimes."

"Then why didn't you take the tent?"

"You've told me you hate the van about ten thousand times. I didn't want to hear it anymore." I joked. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'm gonna go be social. Have fun being a hermit, Bear."

I waved goodby and continued to dig through my stuff. Mostly canned or sealed food, water, and medicine, with a small collection of books and CDs. I would make sure to keep an eye on my little pantry, as I couldn't forget what I heard last night.

_"We're better alone."_

_"I agree, little brother, but they have supplies, supplies we need. 'Specially Dorothy over there. She got a shit ton of medicine, which is just as valuable as food and water."_

_"You think she's just gonna give it to us?"_

_"Not all of it, of course. I could see that she's too soft. But that don't mean we can't steal what she don't give."_

Dorothy was Merle's nickname for me, since I told him I was originally from Kansas. I had moved to Georgia for college, where I had met Glenn. Glenn and I were roommates before the outbreak, and no, not the kind of roommates that slept together. We had both been in a significant amount of debt, and desperately needed a roommate. Unfortunately, people didn't want roommates who were notorious for not paying their bills.

"Mishka, right?" A man asked. He was one of the men I met on the highway last night, an officer. I searched my brain for his name, hoping I wouldn't get it wrong.

"Shane? You can call me Bear."

"Okay." He paused. "I don't want to seem like I don't want weapons around here, but if you have any, could you try and keep 'em locked up? Carl's in a snoopin' phase, and the last thing I need is him shootin' his own foot."

I vaguely remembered that Shane had been traveling with a little boy named Carl and a woman named Lori.

"I will. I hope your family stays safe."

"Oh." He looked uncomfortable. "They're not my family."

"I'm so sorry." I said, feeling a blush creep across my cheeks. "Not to be rude, but where is..."

"Carl's father? Lori's husband? He died. He was shot a few months before the outbreak, and when they raided the hospitals, Rick was in a coma." He said stiffly. He seemed guilty, but I assumed it was because he was in love with a dead man's wife. I had seen the way he looked at her last night, and it was not the look of a friendship.

"Anyway, I gotta go check with everybody else. It was nice to meet you."

"Ditto." I said, quietly. I looked over at Lori, and she was looking back at me. She smiled weakly, and I smiled weakly back. I was never that great at lying or faking, only concealing. I wondered if I should've told Shane about the Dixon brothers, as I studied them. They were standing by their tents, whispering. Daryl was obviously younger, and kind of attractive. Too bad he was a thief.

* * *

"I like your gun." Carl said, in amazement. It was a .44 magnum, with a wooden handle. It looked a lot like the one Dirty Harry carried, and I thought it was pretty cool myself.

"Thanks. I would let you touch it, but I think your mom and Shane would get mad at me."

He huffed. "They're always telling me what to do. It sucks."

"The woes of being... How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Wow." I was surprised. "I would've thought younger."

"Hey!" He exclaimed, although he was wearing a small smile. "I'm tough."

"I never said you weren't. You don't have to be old to be tough. That's like saying girls aren't tough."

"You seem too pretty to be tough." he said, studying me.

"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Most girls that are pretty like you are really worried about their hair and nails and stuff." He shrugged.

"I guess I'll have to use that to my advantage."

"Can I use looking little to my advantage?" He asked, a crease forming between his eyebrows.

"Of course." I nodded. "In fact, you've got a better chance than I do."

He smiled. "Cool."

* * *

"You don't have to stay up." Daryl said, noticing me yawn. "I'll be just fine on my own."

"I want to stay up." I said stubbornly. I knew that if I went to sleep he would take off with Merle and our supplies. I wasn't going to let that happen. There were kids here, for fuck's sake.

The silence was awkward, but I could deal with awkward. I didn't want to associate with someone who could leave so many people defenseless.

"Alright, what's goin' on?" He asked, annoyance filling his voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my tone ice.

"I mean, why do you hate me already? At first I thought you just hated everybody. But after I saw you with the cop and the kid and the Asian, I realized that wasn't it. So why me?"

"Because you and your brother are thieves." I muttered, avoiding his gaze.

"What?" He wasn't menacing, he was confused. I looked him straight in the eye, my anger burning throughout me.

"Because you're a thief. I heard you and Merle yesterday, and I think it would be best if you left. I'm not going to let you steal from all of these innocent people."

Now he was shocked. Instead of trying to plead innocent like most people would, he kept quiet. For that, I was glad. At least he had a little respect.

After what seemed like hours, he finally spoke again.

"Why didn't ya tell nobody?" He asked quietly.

"How do you know I haven't already told someone?"

"'Cause if anyone else knew, we'd be kicked out already."

"Putting everybody on edge isn't going to help anybody." I shrugged.

"That it?"

"No. I'm also hoping you're not the bad guy." I looked over at him to see him staring at his hands.

"Me too." He muttered, almost too quiet for me to hear. "Me too."

* * *

_"Mishka, why didn't you help us?"_

_"Alexei was just about to graduate! He didn't even get to live a full life."_

_"I hope you're happy."_

I jerked up, waking from my nightmare. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, and grabbed my bow. We had been here for about a week and I decided I was going to go hunting today, hopefully finding some meat. I didn't want to dig into my food supply before I absolutely had to.

Everybody was up, Dale and Glenn sitting on top of the RV, the women running around with the children, and the rest of the men standing by the fire. I figured I belonged more with the men than the women, so I walked over to them. No one complained about me being there, so I figured it was okay.

"We need to start settin' up jobs." Shane said. "Glenn already agreed to be a supply runner, so the rest of us have to find somethin' to do."

"I was just about to go hunting." I said, holding up my bow. My magnum was locked tight in the van.

"Good." Shane approved. "Anyone else here know how to hunt?"

"Me and Merle." Daryl said quietly.

"Merle and I." I corrected. He shot me a dirty look, and I glared at him. It was kind of a staring contest for a while.

"You like 'em feisty." Merle muttered to Daryl. That snapped me out of it, and I turned my attention back to Shane.

"Then Daryl, Bear, you guys are assigned to hunting duties. You might wanna start soon, try to catch somethin' for tonight." I nodded, and went back to the van. I grabbed some canned peaches, bread, peanut butter, and some Mountain Dew. I'd have to eat the bread and peanut butter fast because they would expire in a few days. So would the soda, and I had four two-liters. I figured Daryl might want some and packed all four.

Daryl met me by the edge of the words, carrying an extremely badass crossbow. It was awesome enough to make me want to learn how to use one.

"Don't touch it." He warned. I then remembered that I was supposed to be mad at him, and tried to channel annoyance in from earlier. Unfortunately it didn't work, and I probably didn't look as pissed off as I wanted to.

We shot a lot of squirrels, and I was surprised to see Daryl was a good shot. He was even more surprised when he saw _I _was a good shot.

"Where'd ya learn how to shoot?" He asked, impressed.

"I became really obsessed with self defense when I was younger, so I bought a gun, some knives, and a bow, and I practiced shooting and throwing every day. After practicing for so long, you get pretty good."

He chuckled. "How long did it take ya?"

"About six months." I said. "I had a lot of free time. Anyway, how'd you learn?"

"Like you." He admitted. "Taught myself. Taught Merle eventually. He's not great at it, but that's just 'cause he don't listen to me."

I laughed. "For some reason, I don't find that hard to believe."

We sat down, and I pulled out the bread, peanut butter, and Mountain Dew. I made him a a couple sandwiches and a liter of Mountain Dew. He looked surprised, but gladly took it.

"Thanks." He mumbled. I just nodded, and bit into the sandwich. I was going to miss peanut butter so much.

"So why the hell is your nickname Bear?" He asked, talking with his mouth full. I wrinkled my nose, but told him.

"My real name's Mishka, and when I was younger, I absolutely hated it. Nobody could pronounce it, and it was way too different than anybody else. So I asked my dad if I could have a nickname, and he told me that in Russia people called Teddy bears Mishka. So my nickname could either be Teddy or Bear, and Bear sounded way cooler to me."

"Bear's way cooler than Teddy." He agreed. We sat in peaceful silence while we ate, and I stole the occasional glance towards him. Now that his mouth wasn't full of food and open, I could appreciate his looks. He had to be a bit older than me, and seemed perpetually worn out.

We returned later that day, with a ton of squirrels. Everyone thanked us, and I could tell Daryl was overwhelmed by the compliments. I smiled at his shyness, and saw Glenn looking at me. He glanced between Daryl and I, then smiled. It was a mischievous smile, and I frowned at him. He wasn't going to leave me alone now.

After finishing my food, I went over to my van, going through my books. I fished out Lord of the Flies, and began rereading it. It had been my favorite for a while, ever since my dad convinced me to read his collection of classics. Whenever my brother would whine, I'd call him Piggy. He'd get so pissed.

"Any picture books in there?" Daryl joked. I shook my head, smiling a little. Marking my page, I searched through the stack, trying to find something he might like. Triumphant, I handed him a mostly black book.

"Deliverance?" He asked, puzzled.

"Yep. It's pretty good, too. Second only to Lord of the Flies." I said, lifting my book up.

"If it's stupid, I'm gonna tell ya." He warned. "I ain't gonna pretend to like it 'cause you do."

I nodded. "Alright. Try not to insult it too bad."

"I ain't ever insultin', Volkov."

* * *

"You ain't comin' to keep an eye on me?" Daryl asked as I made my way to my van. I shook my head, yawning.

"I'm too tired for all that babysitting bullshit." I looked down before I looked him straight in the eyes. "Besides, now that we're hunting partners I have to trust you with my life. And whether I should or not, I do."

"I trust you too." I nodded at him and made my way to the van, hoping I made the right decision.

Turns out, I did make the right decision. When I woke up, the supplies and the Dixon brothers were still there. As Daryl climbed down from the RV, I smiled at him. He just gave me an 'I told you so' look. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't contain my happiness.

Merle, ever so perceptive, noticed our encounter.

"You actually trust us, Dorothy?" He asked, surprised. I said my next words carefully, not wanting to offend either Daryl or him.

"Don't make me regret it."

**Hope you guys like it! The story'll pick up soon, and I hope you won't be disappointed. Please review and tell me anything you feel you need to, and I'll respond.**

**-Love Bella**


	2. Chapter 2

"I was positive that you were asexual." Glenn laughed, looking over at Daryl in disbelief. I punched him in the arm, frowning.

"Shut up." I crossed my arms across my chest, feeling my face go red. Glenn knew me from the inside out, and I had no doubt that he was sure that I had a crush. He smiled widely, and tapped my nose.

"You're so adorable when you're in love." He remarked. I rolled my eyes, but glanced at Daryl and Merle uneasily. Just because I had a crush didn't mean I was gonna act on it. Merle was sitting in a fold up chair, eating some jerky. Daryl was actually walking towards me, holding his crossbow.

"Ready?" He asked gruffly, avoiding my eyes. He always acted awkward around others, Glenn included.

"Shit." I muttered, abruptly standing up. Daryl had asked me of I wanted to go hunting with him the day before, and it had completely left my mind.

"I'm assumin' that means no?"

"Your assumption would be correct." I said, walking towards the van. Glenn smirked at me, mouthing 'get some'. I stuck my tongue out at him, causing Daryl to give me an odd look. Nonetheless, Daryl trailed behind me as I flung the back open. I climbed in, grabbing some food and water, along with my bow. I had started wearing my belt of knives, but my gun remained in the van most of the time.

"This you?" I turned around to see Daryl holding some of my pictures. He turned them to me, and indeed I was.

"Yep." I smiled, remembering the picture. It was me, my dad, and my brother, at my brother's graduation. I looked different back then, with shorter hair and 'softer edges'. I'll admit, I hadn't lost the 'softer edges' until two weeks after the outbreak. My hair, however, had grown to my waist since then.

"You were cute." He said, hesitantly.

"I was fat." I joked. I hadn't been overweight, although I had been on the bigger side of healthy.

"Weight don't matter none." He shrugged. "Plus, yer cheeks were pretty damn cute."

I frowned. My cheeks were still full, but they had been huge when I was younger. My nickname throughout high school had been chipmunk, which fueled my need to carve 'skinny bitches' on the popular girls lockers.

He skimmed through the rest, noticing one thing.

"Who were ya cuttin' outta all pictures?"

"My mom." I admitted, feeling my cheeks go red. My mother was a sore subject with me, to say the least. Glenn had learned not to talk about it. "We weren't really on the greatest terms."

"I know the feelin'. Anyway, you ready?"

"Let's get this motherfucker started."

* * *

I woke up from my nightmare, and quickly ran, hoping to get away from Daryl. As soon as I was out of sight, I started vomiting the little bit of squirrel that I had eaten last night. After that I was just dry heaving, feeling my whole body start to shake.

"You okay?" Daryl asked, standing a few feet behind me. I nodded weakly, wiping my mouth off. We silently walked back to camp, and I was glad that he didn't ask questions.

When we reached our little camp we had set up, there were a shit ton of blackbirds. Although they quickly scattered after our arrival, I chuckled.

"You just can't escape blackbirds, can you?"

"Whatchya mean?"

"The name Merle means blackbird." I explained, picking up my bow. He frowned.

"How the hell do you know?"

"I was an author before this. And when I was looking for names for a book I was writing, I came across Merle."

"What about Daryl?"

"Yep. Your name means beloved."

"Well ain't that ironic." He muttered. I frowned, but he changed the subject before I could ask. "I finished Deliverance."

"What did you think?

"You're into some weird shit."

"But was it good?"

"I guess. Didn't have a lot of action, though."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled. We packed up our stuff and started following a deer, which later turned into tracking a deer. I wasn't as good as Daryl, but I could officially say I was better than Merle.

At one point, we laughed at some stupid joke I said and scared the deer off, which made Daryl pretty pissed off.

"Stupid bitch." He muttered under his breath. I wanted to say something mean to him back, to hurt him. But I figured he got enough of that shit anyway and just sighed. He gave me a puzzled look before mumbling something unintelligible to me.

* * *

After that, things escalated pretty quickly.

Daryl and I lost the deer to a 'Geek', which made his mood plummet. Then, we found out that Merle was handcuffed to a roof by Lori's husband and then left there by T-Dog. Needless to say, Daryl started organizing a rescue team.

"I'll go." I said. I wasn't a big fan of Merle, but I knew how much Daryl loved him. Plus, I wasn't ready to leave anyone handcuffed to a roof, let alone someone from my own group.

"Please do!" Lori exclaimed, looking the slightest bit relieved. Rick was going with Daryl, and Lori was understandably stressed out. Daryl shook his head and as much as I respected Lori's wish, it was Daryl's brother who was being saved.

"You need to watch the kids." He told me sternly. I was basically poor Carl's mother because Lori was always busy banging her husbands best friend. Now that Rick was back, I wasn't sure how things were going to work out, but I could already tell how tense Shane was acting around Rick.

I nodded, and he looked relieved. "At least someone has some common sense."

It was decided that Glenn, Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl would go to look for Merle, much to Shane and Lori's dismay. As they fought I hung out with Carl, trying to keep him calm. As much as he denied it, I could tell he was nervous about Rick leaving again.

"Daryl and Glenn are the best people I know." I assured him.

"What about T-Dog?" He said, staring over at his mother who was fighting with Shane.

"I don't know him that well, but he seems nice."

"He left Merle on the roof." He paused. "What if he does that to my dad?"

"Do you think Glenn would let that happen?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He tightened his lips, but shook his head. I smiled, and then grabbed a book. He really liked _A Series of Unfortunate Events, _and we were already on the fourth book.

Right before the men left, I ran up to Glenn and Daryl, who were talking. I really hoped they weren't talking about me.

"Hey Bear." Glenn said, turning his attention away from Daryl. Daryl wasn't looking at me any differently, so I figured I wasn't included in their discussion.

"Could you try to bring the van back?" I asked hopefully. "Or at least my CD player. I don't know what I'll do without my music." Thankfully I had put all my books in Dale's RV, as we had decided to share. I hadn't been as lucky with my music, clothes, or magnum.

"Of course." Glenn nodded. "Sorry for losing the van, by the way."

"It was your van." I shrugged. Besides the contents inside, I didn't miss the van that much. Of course, since it was gone, I would have to find a new place to sleep.

"Where are ya gonna sleep?" Daryl asked, reading my thoughts.

"I don't know. Thomas offered to share his tent, but it would be really crowded..." I trailed off. I wasn't really romantically interested in Thomas, and he was coming off a little strong.

"Nonsense." Daryl huffed. "You can sleep in my tent. I can sleep in my truck."

"What about Merle?" I asked. He frowned.

"All right, you'd have to sleep in the truck. But even that's better than sharin' a tent with that creepy asshole. I have a bad feelin' about that guy."

I smiled. "Well, I might have to take you up on that offer."

"If we can't get the van back, you _will_ take the offer."

I shook my head, but smiled a little. They left after that, leaving the camp with a bad feeling. Almost everyone here was a nervous wreck.

"You aren't gonna say anythin', are you?"

I turned around to see Shane, and he looked nervous.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to avoid the conversation.

"You know exactly what I mean. I know you ain't stupid, or at least you ain't oblivious. You can't go blabbin' off to Rick, understand?"

"Are you going to tell him?" I asked, crossing my arms. He scratched the back of his head before answering.

"Lori wants to tell him herself."

"Then I won't tell." I said. "It's better if she tells him anyway."

He nodded and smiled. "I knew you were a good one."

"Yeah, whatever." I muttered, before walking over to Carl, who looked like he needed a hug that his mother hadn't given him.

* * *

"Go fish." I said, no eights in my hand. Sophia frowned, wrinkling her nose a little. She picked up another card, and delightfully put a match down.

"Shouldn't they be back?" Carl asked, worriedly.

"Sometimes things like this take a while." I explained. "Like when Daryl and I go hunting, it takes a long time. Got any fives?"

"Yeah, I guess. Go fish."

We played a little longer before our game was interrupted.

"Bear, help me!" I heard Shane yell. I quickly ran to see a beat to shit Ed being dragged by Shane. The women were following him, Carol a crying mess and the other women shocked beyond belief. I ran over and started dragging him to the RV, where Dale was already setting up medical supplies.

After handing Ed to Dale, who was the only one who had any sense for these things, I turned furiously to Shane.

"What the fuck happened?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"Ed hit Carol, and I saw red. I'm not sorry either, that woman beatin' piece of shit."

I sighed, hands on my temples. "Next time, before you beat someone almost to death, could you consult with us first?"

He rolled his eyes, and walked over to Lori, who was looking at him like he was a monster. I hadn't seen how Shane looked, but I assumed it was bad.

I sighed as Carol hugged Sophia, both of them bawling. I didn't understand how they could feel so bad over someone who hurt them so bad. In fact, they reminded me a little of Daryl and Merle, another grouping I didn't understand. My mother had been like Merle and Ed, and I hated her. I had left her the second I turned eighteen, and still had only negative thoughts about her. I guess I would never understand.

* * *

As we sat by the campfire later that night, waiting for the group, I felt a fear I hadn't in a while. What if they weren't coming back? What if they were gone? I numbly took a bite of squirrel that Daryl and I had caught, tuning out the sounds of everybody laughing.

I was taken out of my stupor when I heard screaming, screaming from Amy, and possibly Ed. I looked up to see multiple Geeks surrounding the camp, and started throwing knives. My gun was still gone and my bow was in the RV.

I took down a lot, but still ran out. Making sure there were no Geeks in the RV, I searched for my bow. Someone had moved it, and I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off to find it. After grabbing it in my hand I ran to the door, only to hear Daryl start yelling.

"Where the hell is Bear?"

I flung the door open, shooting the rest of the Geeks. I saw Daryl and he was looking at me furiously.

"Where the fuck were you?" He asked angrily.

"I was grabbing my bow. I ran out of knives." I said, pointing to my belt. He shook his head.

"Did you not see Amy right there?" He yelled. "Do you want to be killed?"

I felt anger surging through me.

"I was trying to help!"

"Yeah, and look what a great job you did." That hit the nerve. I felt tears starting to spring through my eyes and turned away, walking into the woods. Why was he such an asshole?

_Why do you still like him?_

I asked myself, sitting myself down. I buried my face in my hands, screaming. After cooling down a bit, I walked back to camp, preparing myself for however many deaths had occurred.

**Alright, alright, alright! I might change things up a little, and things might not be absolutely accurate. Sorry, I just wanted to take some creative liberties if you don't mind.** **Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Things are going to get more intense with everyone soon, and I hope I'll do a decent job.**

**-Love Bella**


	3. Chapter 3

_"Yeah, and look what a great job you did."_

Those words had haunted me for years, years before zombies started walking the earth. And as soon as I had forgotten them, they were brought back. Of course, Daryl couldn't know how much those words hurt me. I hadn't offered any information about the past, and he certainly wasn't a mind reader.

"Are you okay?" Glenn asked quietly, pulling me into a hug. I nodded slowly, trying to even out my breathing. He squeezed me tighter for a second, then let me go. I glanced around to see Carol and Sophia hugging, which led me to believe that Ed hadn't made it, and Andrea kneeling over Amy's dead body. Things were so fucked.

I also realized that Merle wasn't here, and sighed. I walked over to Daryl, who was pacing around. He stopped for a second, staring at me.

"I'm sorry." He said roughly. I shrugged, wrapping my arms around myself. I paused before continuing, hoping I wasn't about to hit a nerve.

"I'm sorry. About Merle." His lips twitched into a small smile.

"He ain't dead, if that's what her thinkin'." I frowned, tilting my head slightly. "He cut his hand off and ran away with the van. Guess that means you can sleep in the tent after all."

I smiled as much as I could in a crappy situation like this. "Well, I'm glad that he's probably okay. And I'll stick to the car, if that's all right with you."

"I almost forgot." He pulled a Walkman out of his pocket, a few cassettes along with it. He shoved them over towards me, and I grabbed them, hands full. "You can go put 'em in the truck. I'll grab yer knives for ya."

"Thanks..." I said. This seemed a little out of character for him, but I wasn't going to question it for now. I followed his orders and examined the truck, hoping it would be a comfortable living space. It seemed fine, and Daryl actually had some CDs. I had expected all country music, and was surprised to find some 90s grunge rock.

I made my way back and saw Glenn and Daryl talking, Daryl's arms full of knives. Whatever they were talking about must have been serious, because their faces were somber. I walked over and they abruptly finished their conversation. Glenn turned red and Daryl lowered his gaze avoiding my eyes. They had been talking about me.

"Uh, here are yer knives." Daryl said, handing them to me. I took them thankfully, but glared at Glenn. He smiled weakly a little, and as soon as Daryl left, whispered, "Don't hurt me."

After placing the knives back in my belt, I crossed my arms.

"What did you tell him?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't fuck around with me,"

"Fine!" He exclaimed, holding his hands up. "I told him about what happened... You know with your dad and brother. And, you know, with your mom."

"Glenn! That's extremely personal. If I wanted Daryl to know, don't you think I would have told him?"

"I saw him hurt you, and I didn't want that to happen again. You're like the sister I never had, Bear." He gave me a sad look, and I couldn't stay angry. I shook my head.

"I forgive you, but that doesn't mean I'm not still mad." He smiled and gave me a quick hug, before going to talk to Dale. That left me alone, to sit and wrap my arms around my knees. Carol and Sophia were still crying, while Andrea tried to attack anyone who approached her about Amy. Why did things have to be so bad?

* * *

"Do ya think we're makin' the right decision?" Daryl asked, as we loaded into the truck. Thomas had also offered to let me ride with him, but Daryl demanded I not. He said that he didn't trust Thomas, and I just rolled my eyes and said that he probably had a distrust of every IRS worker alive.

"I don't know." I admitted, looking through his CDs. "I just hope that the CDC has answers, not even necessarily a cure. Hell, I don't think I want a cure anymore."

"What do ya mean?" He frowned, starting the truck up.

"If there's a cure, that means I've killed innocent people. Sick people. I wouldn't mind a vaccine, but I don't think I'd want a cure. I know that's selfish, but could we even go back to normal after something like this? I mean, this isn't the Black Plague."

"I get what you mean." He said, sounding troubled. "And I don't know. Even if there was a cure, I don't think people'd be the same after eatin' people."

"Yeah." I said, resting my head on the window. "That's why cannibals are so fucked up."

He rolled his eyes, but smiled a little. We then rested in a peaceful silence until I put a Sublime CD in. He gave me a surprised look, but quickly returned his eyes to the road.

"I woulda thought that Sublime was too dark for girls."

I shrugged. "Maybe most, but I'm not really most girls."

"You sure as hell ain't." I smiled at him, and focused on the music, glad for little moments like this.

_"Life is too short, so love the one you got_

_'Cause you might get run over and you might get shot."_

Those words were so true, especially now. I glanced at Daryl to see him studying me, or at least my hair. It was pulled into a ponytail, and dirtier than it had ever been. If it hadn't been in such a state, I might have thought he thought it was pretty.

I smiled at him, and he averted his eyes. He then looked back at me, some confidence shining through.

"Whatdya think of the song?" He asked, staring at me.

"It had a lot of truth to it."

"Damn right... How old are you?"

"Twenty-five. You?"

"Thirty-four."

"You're not as old as I thought."

"Stress'll do that to ya."

"Don't I know it."

There was a long pause before he spoke to me again.

"I'm sorry about your brother. And dad."

"It's not your fault."

"And your mom. If I ever meet 'er, she's gonna have to deal with me." I laughed, wondering how I could find anything to do with my mother amusing.

"So, you know my whole past then?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, not the whole thing. Just the bad parts."

"It's kind of not fair. I mean, I don't know anything about your past."

"Whatchya wanna know?"

And then we delved into deep conversation, conversation about his mother and father and brother. He spoke of Merle in a mostly positive light, but I swore that there was resentment somewhere. His past was as bad as mine, and I felt empathy. Not pity, because I hated that emotion. But empathy.

* * *

"You're killin' us!" Rick yelled, agony written on his face. Shane and Lori were looking at him like he was insane, while the rest of us tried to fight off the Geeks. Shane had started calling them Walkers, but I was sticking to Glenn's nickname. Humans walked, and I didn't want us too seem similar at all.

"You need to stop." I whispered in his ear. "You're scaring Carl."

He looked at me desperately, his screaming subsiding. "It moved. We can't just leave."

I nodded. "I know, I know. But we have to do this calmly. You can't freak everybody out."

"You believe me, don't you?" The look in his eyes was so honest, like he truly believed that camera had moved.

"Yes." I said. Whether or not it had actually moved, I believed he thought it did. He was relieved, and visibly calmed down. He turned around and gave the camera one last remark.

"I hope you're happy."

We started fighting the Geeks, letting out cries of frustration. We were all so confused, and we all wanted somewhere cool and safe. This was supposed to be that place, and now it wasn't. We were just about finished with them, just about to pass out from exhaustion, when the door opened. The light was blinding, one man standing in it.

We all stopped fighting in our surprise, and I looked at Daryl, dumbfounded. He gave me a shrug in return, although I could tell he was trying to hold his shock inside.

"Bring what you want to keep. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

* * *

"Are we underground?"

_Please, say no. Please._

"Why, are you claustrophobic?"

_More than you could ever know._

"A little."

"Try not to think about it."

I did as told, and tried to focus on anything else. I ended up focusing on the kids, Rick, and Daryl. The kids kept looking towards me because I had grabbed their books, Rick because of my trust in him, and Daryl... Well, I didn't know why Daryl was.

We took a quick blood test, one that I swept through easily. I had grown up watching gory horror movies from the eighties thanks to my dad. The only one who had seemed a little nervous was Carol, but I think it was because her arms were covered with bruises.

Then we were on to dinner, which was absolutely amazing. We hadn't eaten this well in months! All of the adults were drinking wine, except for me. I had Coca-Cola, and gave Carl a small high-five when he thought the wine was gross.

"Thank you." Rick whispered. Shane was asking Dr. Jenner some depressing questions while the rest of us were trying to ignore him.

"For what? Believing you? That didn't require much on my part. Thank you, for your watchful eye." He smiled at me, a big smile that I had only seen when he first found Lori and Carl. Lori noticed, and started eying me the rest of dinner.

There was another speech before Jenner left us to do our own thing. The first thing I was going to do was take a shower. I picked a room in between Daryl and Glenn, and started searching through the clothes. The most comfortable were an oversized black V-neck and some blue and pink plaid pajama pants. Not the most practical, but I couldn't have cared less.

"Bear?" It was Lori, and I set the clothes down with a sigh. I ran to the door before opening it, only to find Lori absolutely pissed.

"Look, Rick is a married man. He don't want anythin' to do with home-wreckin' whores like you." My eyes widened, and I clutched the door a little tighter.

"What are you talking about?" She scoffed.

"I noticed your little conversation. He don't have a thing for sluts." She was reminding me of my own mother, and I was getting pissed off. Really pissed off.

"He settled for you." I said, venom dripping from my voice.

"How do you know about that?" She asked, looking around. Everyone else was taking a shower.

"When are you going to tell him, Lori. Rick deserves to know." My voice was slowly getting louder, and I couldn't help but like seeing her squirm.

"You shut your mouth." She was attempting to act tough, but that was pissing me off even more.

"If anyone should be shutting anything, it's you. Now leave me alone." She gaped, but stormed off. I was thankful that she had any type of sense.

"Wow, I didn't know you could get angry." Daryl said, walking up to my door, which was still open. He had taken a shower, but was in his clothes from earlier.

"It doesn't happen often." I admitted. I had gone through my angry phase in high school, and it had hurt my future. I would often get into fights and carve things onto lockers and desks, causing me to get a bunch of detentions. Those detentions made sure that I couldn't get a full ride scholarship.

"It's kind of funny, actually."

"Why is that funny?"

"Because, even when yer angry, you still look sweet." I rolled my eyes. We talked a little longer before he left me alone to take a shower. Normally I would have taken a quick shower to lengthen my time with him, but I made sure to clean myself carefully.

When I was done, I brushed my teeth. I may or may not have brushed them extra well so I would have fresh breath. Other than getting dressed, there wasn't much to do besides go talk to Daryl. I knocked on his door and he answered right away, Lord of the Flies on his bed. I had let him borrow it after he reluctantly told me he liked Deliverance.

"Tell me somethin'. From before all this shit. And make sure it ain't about books." He sat on his bed and I followed.

"Hmmm..." I tried to think of something interesting, and could only find one thing. I just hoped that it wasn't too gross.

"Okay, when I was eleven or twelve my mom forced me to go to summer camp with my brother-"

"Why?" I had a feeling he was an interrupter.

"My brother always went to summer camp, and my mom said I had to do something besides read books. It was absolute bullshit. I mean, I read books all summer-"

"I asked you to not talk about two things, and you couldn't do it?"

"Shut up. Anyway, there was a lot of getting up early and hiking, which I was not a fan of. So one time, and this was a few weeks in, I woke up late. I had to rush, and could barely do anything besides get dressed."

"So, of course that had to be the day that we went on this really long hike. I was tired, and after about two hours, I had to pee. Like, really bad because I wasn't able to go to the bathroom earlier that morning."

"So after another half hour, we finally found a bathroom. And, of course, a few other girls had to pee, but it was only a one person bathroom. I've always been a fast runner, so I was the first one to reach it. I ran in, and ,uh, did my business. Then, when I was 'relieved', I stood up. That was when I realized I had forgotten to pull my pants down."

"Back then, public humiliation was the worst thing that could have happened to me. So I got the smart idea to pour water from the sink all over the floor, and pretend I slipped. So I poured the water all over the floor, and made sure there was a big banging sound to make it seem like I fell."

"The teacher, who was a girl, heard it and burst through the door. I held on to my hip and pretended I fell and was crying and everything. And everybody believed me, until one of the boys realized I smelt like pee. Everybody called me Baby Bear the rest of the summer."

He was laughing, and I felt my cheeks go red. I had only ever told my father this story, and he had laughed as well. It wasn't funny, it was embarrassing.

"Why ain't you that evil genius now?" He joked. I shook my head and playfully punched his shoulder. He winced, and I realized he had thought I was going to actually hit him.

"Are you okay?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows together. He nodded, but kept quiet. I remembered what he had told me about his dad, and couldn't help but ask what was burning on my mind.

"Do you have any scars?" He looked startled, but quickly toughened again.

"On my back." He said roughly. "You?"

I nodded, and pulled up my left pant leg. On my upper thigh and knee were multiple cigarette burn marks. He ran his fingers over them lightly, barely touching them. I looked over to see his vulnerability again, and decided I needed to make a move. I cupped his face and kissed him, gently.

Now, from what I'd read in books, he was supposed to kiss back. But no. This was Daryl Dixon.

"What the hell?" He said pushing me away. I lowered my eyes, my cheeks burning again.

"Sorry, it's just- I thought you liked me." He was quiet for a while, but finally answered.

"I do like ya. But we don't need to do things so quickly. We have time here, and we don't need to rush or anythin'."

I smiled, and pulled him in for a hug.

"Is this okay?" I asked. He held tighter as an answer. We lied on the bed together, and I realized I would be happy to spend whatever time I had left with Daryl Dixon.

**Honestly, I'm getting sad just thinking about the news they're about to get. Anyway, things are gonna heat up between them soon, I promise!**

**-Love Bella**


	4. Chapter 4

"So, if yer an author, why haven't I read any of yer books?"

"I'm not really proud of my books." I admitted. I nervously scratched the hack of my head before I continued. "I wrote most of them on a deadline, so I didn't have time to revise or anything like that."

"What were they about?" He had been awful curious all morning, deciding to skip breakfast just to ask me questions.

"Mystery stuff. Murders that seem simple but are more complex, stuff like that. Anyway, enough about me. What did you do?"

"I was a drifter." He tone was getting rough again, and I could tell we were treading in dangerous waters.

"I always wanted to be a drifter." I said, hoping that would cheer him up a little. Instead his mood got darker. "Just be alone, traveling the world with no possessions."

"Yer so talented and smart, and you would waste that?"

"Before I went to college and met Glenn, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I never really figured I had any skills that I could turn into a decent career, so I decided I would just be a waitress, save up my money, and just run away.

"Then I met Glenn. We were never attracted to each other, romantically, but we became friends really fast. Then, since both of us were poor and in debt, we became 'roomies'. One day, he read one of my essays and told me that I should become an author. And I decided I should try. All thoughts of becoming a drifter kind of drifted after that. Pardon the expression."

"I'll have to thank the Chinaman sometime then."

"He's Korean." Daryl rolled his eyes. "And he's probably expecting me."

"He can wait. Tell me another story. A happy one."

"Why don't you tell me a story? I've been telling you stories all day, and you haven't told me one."

"Mine ain't happy."

"Does it look like I care?" He sighed.

"Fine. One time, and I was 'bout eleven, I was hangin' out with Merle. He'd just got outta Juvie, and we were in the bad part of town again. The whole reason Merle'd been in Juvie was 'cause someone'd told on him.

"So Merle gets this idea. And the idea is to go around the bad part of town and interrogate everyone, with a gun no less. To me, we were super badass. I mean, Merle had done drugs and stuff, but he'd never had a gun.

"So we're walkin' around with a gun, Merle with revenge on his mind, me with badassery on mine, and we were just pointin' the gun at people, askin' 'em who the snitch was. After a few people the gun lost it's appeal, but I still felt cool. Like I was tough.

"After about twelve people, we finally find the snitch. Unfortunately the snitch was in hidin', so Merle got another idea. He decided we were gonna make posters sayin' '_fuck the snitch',_ with the guy's face on it.

" We posted it all over town, not a care in the world. But what we didn't think of, was how we weren't allowed to post somethin' with the word fuck everywhere. So, a cop showed up at our house, threw a fit, got in a fight with Merle, and ended up getting' Merle arrested."

"So Merle ended up in Juvie twice over one guy?" I asked, amused.

"Yep. He was pissed 'bout it." I laughed.

"Your stories aren't so bad." I said, poking his shoulder. He just sighed, and flopped the top half of himself on the bed. Figuring that we were going to rest in silence, I grabbed my Walkman. Oddly enough, this would be my first time using it.

Not paying attention to the tape, I pulled the earphones on and listened. Frowning, I took it out, looking at the label. Holding back a laugh, I looked at another tape.

"Daryl, you did not." I laughed, looking at the five tapes he had gotten me.

"What?" He asked, sitting up. At this point I was laughing so hard that I could feel tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Daryl Dixon, you did give me cassettes labeled, '_songs about sex', _ and then tell me we have to take things slow!" He grabbed the cassettes from my hands, studying them. With a reddened face, he shoved them back at me.

"I wasn't payin' attention." I stifled my laughter, trying to less his embarrassment.

"Speaking of sex, you should look in the drawers." I said. I had checked after waking up, and had been very surprised. "I had no idea scientists were so horny."

There were at least four boxes of condoms, which made Daryl's face redden again. I grabbed the Walkman and started listening again, unable to stop giggling.

"It's getting hot in here, uh-huh, so take off all your clothes! I am getting so hot, I wanna take my clothes off!"

"Maybe you should stick to listenin' to songs."

"Shut up!" I laughed, kicking my feet. I felt like a kid again, and not an angry one.

* * *

"Dude, the building is about to explode!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked incredulously.

"I'll explain later, just grab what you need and run!" And with that, Glenn was in his room. I grabbed my Walkman, and for good measure, the condoms. You couldn't know when those would be handy.

"Really?" Daryl asked, as we ran.

"Well, I figured that when things have gone slow enough, we might need these."

We ducked for cover, while the building behind us exploded into a million pieces.

* * *

"So that doctor was going to kill us all?" I asked, rubbing my temples. I still wasn't fully comprehending the situation.

"Yeah. And Andrea would have died, if it weren't for Dale." I glanced over at the two in question, and Andrea didn't reply seem thrilled.

"That's really heavy." I sighed, closing my eyes.

"I can't believe you would have died talking to Dixon. Or maybe not talking. What I'm trying to say, is that I saw the condoms." I felt myself redden slightly, but shook my head.

"We're not having sex. That's for if we reach that... Point?"

"Well, you're still a lucky bastard. When I die, I'll have only had sex three times."

"That's three times more than me."

"Not for long." I rolled my eyes and handed him a tube.

"Time to go sucking for gas." I said, exasperated. Glenn and I were the only ones who knew how to siphon gas, and we had been for the past few days. We were now on our way to Fort Benning, Glenn traveling in the RV. I was still with Daryl in the RV, but we were going to start riding the bike after we ran out of gas. Not that I couldn't get gas for the truck, but Daryl wanted to ride the bike instead.

"Yep." He looked at the tube, disgusted. He then glamced over at me. "Maybe if we travel far enough, we can find you some new clothes."

I was still wearing the black shirt and plaid pajama pants, and often felt like I was melting.

We soon gathered enough gas to continue moving, and I was on the road with Daryl again. We had been talking a lot, mostly because Daryl thought that we needed to actually know each other before anything got physical. I was always arguing that we knew each other well, but he was always insisting that I tell him stories.

"Okay, so one time my family and I were vacationing in Florida. And by vacationing, I mean that my mom had a business and dragged us to Florida with her. Anyway, none of us were prepared for the weather or animals there, so we were in for a big surprise.

" My dad was sitting on the couch, just watching TV. All of the sudden, there's this giant, winged cockroach on his shoulder, and we're all freaking out, when my dad runs in the bathroom. Then he comes out with a white spray bottle, and just starts spraying the fucker.

"After a couple sprays it finally died, but then I started wondering what he sprayed the bug with. So I asked him, and he just says bleach. So, we're all kind of staring at the wall, and my mom just starts freaking out.

" A few minutes later, the hotel walk starts turning white where he sprayed it. He even sprayed a painting, and the whole sky on the painting started getting a misty white. And all my dad had to say was, 'Oh, well now it has clouds. That's interesting.'"

Daryl was smiling. "Yer always happy when you talk 'bout him."

"So can I get a kiss for my story?" I asked. We were stopped for the night, and parked far away from everyone else.

"Why not?" I kissed him, probably a little bit more passionately than allowed. Thankfully, he didnt push me way again. Things progressed a little_ and we only stopped kissing wwhn I muttered,

"Thank God for condoms."

**Sorry for the delay, but I've actually been without WiFi for a long time. So, I was thinking of Bear and Daryl ship names, and it literally took me an hour to realize Bearyl. Anyways, there's a poll about whether or not Daryl and Ber should have sex, and I strongly suggest participating.**

**-Love Bella**


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